The two state House seats in Pinal County’s Legislative District 8 will remain in Republican hands, as Democrat Carmen Casillas came up short against Republican Rep. T.J. Shope and political newcomer David Cook.

Two years ago, Republican Chris Ackerley blindsided Democrats when he won a seat in the state House from a Democratic stronghold in the heart of solidly blue southern Arizona. Ackerley faces his biggest challenge yet.

Rodney Glassman has gone from Tucson Democrat to Phoenix Republican in a little more than a decade. Starting out as a city councilman in the Old Pueblo, he’s now in a coalition pushing to make kindergarten a full grade equal to one through 12.

Republican Frank Schmuck upset incumbent Sen. Jeff Dial in the Legislative District 18 Senate primary, capitalizing on a campaign mounted almost exclusively on Dial’s questionable status as an Army veteran.